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Isuzu returns to U.S. Class 6 segment for 2018 Isuzu Commercial Truck of America highlighted key specifications of its all-new Class 6 medium-duty truck, the 2018 Isuzu FTR, following a series of “whistle stops” at several dealerships the OEM made while taking the vehicle on a nationwide tour over the last two weeks. Isuzu originally unveiled the 2018 FT model at the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Work Truck Show back in March of this year. Some of the specs being announced for the dock-height 2018 Isuzu FTR include: • A 25,950 pounds gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). • Eight wheelbase lengths ranging from 152 to 248 inches, accommodating bodies from 14 to 30 feet long. • The 2018 FTR will come standard with an 4-cylinder Isuzu 5.2-liter 4HK1-TC engine that generates 215 hp and 520 lbs.-ft. of torque, mated to an Allison six-speed automatic transmission with power take-off (PTO) capability. • The truck’s Dana-supplied axles will have capacities of 12,000 lbs. up front with a 19,000 lbs. rear suspension. • Bridgestone or Continental 11R22.5 tires will be the standard offering on the 2018 FTR; fitted onto 22.5-in. × 8.25-in. steel wheels. Isuzu added that FTR is slated to go into production at a new manufacturing facility in Charlotte, Michigan in mid-2017 [i.e. contract assembler Spartan Motors]. Isuzu FTR website - http://www.isuzucv.com/en/fseries/models Isuzu FTR brochure - http://www.isuzucv.com/en/app/site/pdf?file=ftr_brochure.pdf .

Transport Topics / October 12, 2016 Commercial vehicle supplier Dana Inc. said it has a definitive agreement to purchase strategic assets of Sifco S.A., a leading Brazilian producer of forged and machined components, such as those used in commercial vehicle drivelines and suspensions. Under the terms of the proposed purchase, it would acquire manufacturing and other assets of Sifco, Dana said. “For nearly 70 years, Dana has operated in Brazil, which has long been one of the top ten economies in the world,” said Dana CEO James Kamsickas. “This is an opportune time to invest in strategic and selective assets in Brazil that will further strengthen our position as one of the most trusted, top-tier suppliers to the mobility industry — thus positioning us for future profitable growth throughout the region.” Also, by expanding manufacturing capabilities in Brazil, the acquisition will also enable Dana to help vehicle manufacturers better accommodate local content requirements, which reduce import and other region-specific costs, the Maumee, Ohio-based company said. “Dana has worked with Sifco for 40 years as a supplier of key components used in vehicle drivelines,” said Mark Wallace, president of Dana Commercial Vehicle Driveline Technologies. “This acquisition will add the talent and capabilities needed to help us meet the requirements of our commercial-vehicle customers and provide value for our light-vehicle and off-highway customers, as well.” Sifco has operated under judicial restructuring since 2014, and the transaction is subject to closing conditions, including bankruptcy court and regulatory approvals. Final financial terms of the agreement are subject to the outcome of closing conditions, and the transaction is expected to be completed by the end of 2016.

Daimler had a Freightliner Inspiration at the IAA show with aero fenders. Unsure of the supplier. .

Transport Topics / October 12, 2016 FlowBelow Aero Inc. said Daimler Trucks North America will offer its fuel-saving Tractor AeroKit system as an option on its most fuel-efficient Freightliner Cascadia Evolution equipment package, effective immediately. The AeroKit system improves truck fuel efficiency by more than 2% and consists of aerodynamic quick-release wheel covers, center fairings located between the wheels and rear fairings installed behind the tractor's wheels. As part of the supplier agreement, all its products will also be available for aftermarket purchase and installation through all Freightliner dealers in North America network, Austin, Texas-based FlowBelow said. “With the addition of the Tractor AeroKit system to the Cascadia Evolution truck, we are providing increased value while also laying the groundwork for further aerodynamic enhancements,” says FlowBelow Aero CEO Josh Butler. The announcement expands on its earlier supplier agreement with DTNA in February 2016 to offer fleet customers its quick-release aerodynamic wheel covers as a factory installed and aftermarket option. Related reading - http://www.flowbelow.com/ .

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No arrest.....just resign and walk away. And one of the accomplices takes over. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Wells Fargo chief John Stumpf to step down The Financial Times / October 12, 2016 John Stumpf, the Wells Fargo chairman and CEO, is to leave with immediate effect after conceding that he had “become a distraction” as the bank tries to recover from its sham account scandal. However, Wells’ decision to replace Mr Stumpf with two longstanding insiders drew immediate political fire. Tim Sloan, a 29-year veteran of the bank and its president and chief operating officer, will become chief executive while Stephen Sanger, the board’s lead director, is to be chairman. Mr Stumpf caved in to pressure from Washington five weeks after regulators found that thousands of the bank’s employees, under pressure to meet sales targets, had fraudulently created as many as 2m accounts. However, the change at the top was not enough to mollify Maxine Waters, a Democratic member of the House of Representatives’ financial services committee. “Tim Sloan is also culpable in the recent scandal, serving in a central role in the chain of command that ought to have stopped this misconduct from happening,” she said. Mr Stumpf, who made cross-selling a central part of Wells’ strategy, had been lambasted over the episode, enduring hostile grillings from lawmakers on Capitol Hill. In an interview on Wednesday, Mr Sloan said his predecessor had decided to go “without any pressure from the board”. “He felt that he’d become a distraction. There was so much focus on John. That’s not what Wells is about. What Wells is about is servicing its customers … It’s an incredibly selfless act when you think about it.” With a background in the commercial and wholesale side of the business, Mr Sloan has not been dragged into the scandal, which took place at its community banking division. He emerged as heir apparent last November, when he took on the titles of president and chief operating officer while remaining head of wholesale banking. The bogus accounts debacle has accelerated a long-planned succession. Mr Stumpf, a 34-year veteran of the bank, had been expected to go before he turns 65, in two years. The new chairman, Mr Sanger, has sat on the Wells board since 2003 and been its lead director since 2012. He ran General Mills, the food producer and distributor, between 1995 and 2007 and is also on the board of Pfizer. Mr Stumpf has said he is “deeply sorry” for the bank’s conduct and forfeited more than $40m in pay over the row. In a statement on Wednesday he said he was “optimistic” about the bank’s future. “While I have been deeply committed and focused on managing the company through this period, I have decided it is best for the company that I step aside,” he said in a statement. “I know no better individual to lead this company forward than Tim Sloan.”

Associated Press / October 12, 2016 An American arms dealer says he was made a scapegoat for an Obama and Clinton-led 2011 plot to arm Libyan rebels that saw arms flowing to Al Qaeda, ISIS and the Benghazi attackers. Marc Turi faced trial for illegally selling arms, but charges in the five-year, $10 million case were dropped on October 5 because Democrats were worried about political blowback for Clinton if it emerged that the government had accidentally put weapons in the hands of America's enemies. 'I would say, 100 percent, I was victimized, to somehow discredit me, to throw me under the bus, to do whatever it took to protect their next presidential candidate,' says Turi. Turi, 48, says the Obama administration had wanted to arm Libyan rebels to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi during the Arab Spring uprising, but were stopped by a UN sanction on arms sales to the country. Turi proposed a plan to sell weapons to US allies in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates who would then pass them on to Libya, but was cut out of the deal by Clinton's State Department and the CIA, who transported the weapons themselves. Those weapons, Turi says, then went to just about everyone in Libya and Syria - friend and foe alike - after rebels got their hands on them. When asked whether Al Qaeda, Ansar al-Sharia (the group behind the Benghazi attack), or ISIS - which was formed in 1999 - got the weapons; Turi replied: 'All of them, all of them, all of them.' He says the Justice Department then attempted to scapegoat him, charging him with two counts of illegal arms dealing and two of lying on his State Department weapons application - despite him never actually selling anything. But taking the case to court would require them to publicly release transcripts acknowledging the secret weapons program, he says. 'Those transcripts, from current as well as former CIA officers, were classified,' he said. 'If any of these relationships had been revealed it would have opened up a can of worms. There wouldn't have been any good answer for the US government especially in this election year.' Instead, the government failed to meet an October 5 deadline to deliver discovery documents in the case and allowed it to be thrown out with prejudice - meaning it cannot be pursued again. Had the case gone forward, it would have begun on November 8 - Election Day. Turi says he emailed his idea about arming the rebels via the UAE and Qatar to Chris Stevens, then US envoy to the Libyan opposition on April 7, 2011. The following day, Clinton suggested to her aide in an email: 'FYI. the idea of using private security experts to arm the opposition should be considered.' That's not a coincidence, Turi says. And he believes Clinton's team deleted emails about the plan that 'would have gone to an organization within the Bureau of Political Military affairs within the State Department known as PM/RSAT (Office of Regional Security and Arms Transfers.)' He added that the incident might be linked to the 2012 Benghazi attack, in which Islamist militants killed 11 people - four of them Americans - when they attacked the US consulate in the Libyan city. He said that 'there’s a backstory to the actual buy-back program of the surface-to-air missiles that were shipped and mysteriously disappeared out of Benghazi.' 'The American public has the right to know that an injustice was committed against an innocent American,' says Turi. 'I still don't really know who the unjust actors were who launched this attack against me from the shadows. I just hope that someday there will be someone that will be held accountable.'

Bear in mind that only 12.5% to 15% of the news you read is complete and accurate (less on CNN since Ted Turner exited), but I long suspected that Qatar and Saudi Arabia, if not all six of the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries* were funding ISIS. * Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates Look at the date of her memo to Podesta, August 2014. And yet, you haven't heard a word from our government. Go figure. Now, during her tenure as Secretary of State, it is said that the Clinton Foundation received "donations" from both Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The plot thickens. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press / October 12, 2016 The Clinton campaign today tried to tamp down a mounting controversy over a newly disclosed, and potentially explosive, email in which the former secretary of state accuses the Saudi and Qatari governments of secretly funding the Islamic State. On Aug. 17, 2014 — eight months before she declared her candidacy for president — Clinton sent a detailed strategy for combating the Islamic State, which she referred to as ISIL, in an email to John Podesta, then a White House counselor and now her campaign chairman. Along with a military campaign to roll back the terror group in Iraq, the Clinton email talks about confronting the Saudis and the Qataris, both key U.S. allies, over what she refers to as governmental backing of ISIL. The Clinton email states: “We need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region.” As a basis for the assertions, Clinton in the email cites “Western intelligence, U.S. intelligence and sources in the region.” The email was among thousands hacked from Podesta’s private Gmail account and released this week by WikiLeaks in what appears to be an attempt to embarrass the Clinton campaign. The campaign has struggled to respond to the contents of the emails, insisting it does not want to authenticate material that it and the U.S. government now believe came from a Russian state-sponsored cyberattack. The campaign would not say whether Clinton personally wrote the email, which reads like a position or policy paper, although it was sent from her private email account. “These are hacked, stolen documents by the Russian government, which has weaponized WikiLeaks to help elect Donald Trump,” Glen Caplin, a senior Clinton campaign spokesman, told Yahoo News. “We’re not going to confirm the authenticity of any specific alleged communication.” At the same time, a campaign aide also argued that the sentiment expressed in the email “isn’t new.” Clinton “has repeatedly called out the Saudis and Qataris for supporting terrorism,” said the aide, declining to be named. [Why ???] As evidence, the aide pointed to Clinton’s remarks in a speech last November. “And, once and for all, the Saudis, the Qataris, and others need to stop their citizens from directly funding extremist organizations, as well as schools and mosques around the world that have set too many young people on a path toward radicalization,” she said then. In yet another instance cited by the aide, Clinton asserted in a September 2015 speech at the Brookings Institution that “nobody can deny that much of the extremism in the world today is a direct result of policies and funding undertaken by the Saudi government and individuals. We would be foolish not to recognize that. “ But in that and other remarks, Clinton appeared to be referring to general Saudi support for Islamic mosques that have been accused of spreading extremist ideology while calling out its government for not cracking down on private citizens sending money to terror organizations. In her email to Podesta, she goes beyond this, saying the Saudi and Qatari governments themselves are funding ISIS — a far more serious allegation with potentially more dramatic diplomatic implications. And one that has riled up critics of Saudi Arabia here in the U.S. “Clearly, this Clinton email shows the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is continuing to covertly fund and logically support terrorist groups that kill Americans,” said Kristen Breitweiser, one of the leaders of the 9/11 family members who have been lobbying for recently enacted legislation — opposed by the Obama administration — that would allow them to sue the Saudis in federal court over their support for al-Qaeda. “Apparently, everybody in Washington knows that the Saudis are doing this, yet the White House and the State Department are against holding them accountable.” Breitweiser added about the contents of the email: “This is a clear example of the difference between how people speak to each other privately compared to what they say publicly.” Clinton broke with Obama over the legislation Breitweiser lobbied for; her campaign said she would have signed the bill allowing U.S. citizens to sue countries that sponsored terrorism into law. The Saudi government, through Qorvis Communications, one of its lobbying and public relations firms, responded to questions about the email Tuesday, saying it would not comment on “leaked documents,” but adding that the allegations of government funding are “preposterous and simply defy logic.” “Saudi Arabia is on the forefront of fighting terrorism in the region and around the world,” the Saudi statement said. “Daesh (an Arabic term for the Islamic State) is a sworn enemy of Saudi Arabia. It has called for the overthrow of the Saudi government and made the gulf kingdom its main target because it is the birthplace of Islam and home to the Two Holy Mosques.” Noting the military and other actions the Saudi government has taken to fight the Islamic State — including “an aggressive public education and ideological campaign” to discredit the group, the Saudi statement added: “Saudi Arabia has long-maintained that it will thoroughly investigate any reports of funding of terrorist organizations by Saudi citizens or institutions.” It’s unclear if Clinton actually wrote the email herself or was simply passing along a policy paper that was written by an aide or some other source. The lengthy document is in many respects unlike any of the mostly terse emails from her private email account that have been made public by the State Department. (Some former top U.S. national security experts last week warned that the Russians may seek to “doctor” leaked material, but the Clinton campaign has yet to offer evidence that any of the WikiLeaks emails were forged or tampered with.) And the rest of the positions outlined in the email — such as stepped-up air campaign and arming the Kurds — match closely with Clinton’s publicly stated positions on how to fight ISIS. Still, the email goes much further than Clinton or President Barack Obama have before in publicly pointing a finger at U.S. allies for funding ISIS. But it does appear to reflect views that have been shared privately by some in the White House. A few months after Clinton sent this email, Vice President Joe Biden was forced to apologize for similar remarks. He told a group of students at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government that “our allies” contributed to the rise of ISIS. “The Turks… the Saudis, the Emirates, etc., what were they doing? They were so determined to take down [Syrian President Bashar] Assad and essentially have a proxy Sunni-Shia war, what did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens, thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad,” Biden said then. Asked about the content of the Clinton email, White House spokesman Edward Price said: “We’ll decline to comment on purportedly leaked emails.” Clinton sent the email to Podesta when he still worked for Obama as counselor. He became Clinton’s campaign chair in January of 2015. Adding to the potential awkwardness for her campaign, Podesta’s brother, Tony Podesta, runs one of Washington’s biggest lobbying firms, which in September 2015 signed a contract to lobby for the Saudi government. A few weeks later, Tony Podesta held a Clinton campaign fundraiser, attended by John Podesta, and has since been listed as one of the campaign’s chief “bundlers” or premier fundraisers. The Clinton campaign did not return a request for comment about whether the candidate believes it is appropriate to accept campaign donations from someone who has lobbied for a government she believes is sponsoring terrorism. Podesta refused a request for comment.

Bear in mind that only 12.5% to 15% of the news you read is complete and accurate (less on CNN since Ted Turner exited), but I long suspected that Qatar and Saudi Arabia, if not all six of the Gulf Cooperation Council* countries were funding ISIS. * Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates Look at the date of her memo to Podesta, August 2014. And yet, you haven't heard a word from our government. Go figure. Now, during her tenure as Secretary of State, it is said that the Clinton Foundation received "donations" from both Qatar and Saudi Arabia. The plot thickens. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press / October 12, 2016 The Clinton campaign today tried to tamp down a mounting controversy over a newly disclosed, and potentially explosive, email in which the former secretary of state accuses the Saudi and Qatari governments of secretly funding the Islamic State. On Aug. 17, 2014 — eight months before she declared her candidacy for president — Clinton sent a detailed strategy for combating the Islamic State, which she referred to as ISIL, in an email to John Podesta, then a White House counselor and now her campaign chairman. Along with a military campaign to roll back the terror group in Iraq, the Clinton email talks about confronting the Saudis and the Qataris, both key U.S. allies, over what she refers to as governmental backing of ISIL. The Clinton email states: “We need to use our diplomatic and more traditional intelligence assets to bring pressure on the governments of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which are providing clandestine financial and logistic support to ISIL and other radical Sunni groups in the region.” As a basis for the assertions, Clinton in the email cites “Western intelligence, U.S. intelligence and sources in the region.” The email was among thousands hacked from Podesta’s private Gmail account and released this week by WikiLeaks in what appears to be an attempt to embarrass the Clinton campaign. The campaign has struggled to respond to the contents of the emails, insisting it does not want to authenticate material that it and the U.S. government now believe came from a Russian state-sponsored cyberattack. The campaign would not say whether Clinton personally wrote the email, which reads like a position or policy paper, although it was sent from her private email account. “These are hacked, stolen documents by the Russian government, which has weaponized WikiLeaks to help elect Donald Trump,” Glen Caplin, a senior Clinton campaign spokesman, told Yahoo News. “We’re not going to confirm the authenticity of any specific alleged communication.” At the same time, a campaign aide also argued that the sentiment expressed in the email “isn’t new.” Clinton “has repeatedly called out the Saudis and Qataris for supporting terrorism,” said the aide, declining to be named. [Why ???] As evidence, the aide pointed to Clinton’s remarks in a speech last November. “And, once and for all, the Saudis, the Qataris, and others need to stop their citizens from directly funding extremist organizations, as well as schools and mosques around the world that have set too many young people on a path toward radicalization,” she said then. In yet another instance cited by the aide, Clinton asserted in a September 2015 speech at the Brookings Institution that “nobody can deny that much of the extremism in the world today is a direct result of policies and funding undertaken by the Saudi government and individuals. We would be foolish not to recognize that. “ But in that and other remarks, Clinton appeared to be referring to general Saudi support for Islamic mosques that have been accused of spreading extremist ideology while calling out its government for not cracking down on private citizens sending money to terror organizations. In her email to Podesta, she goes beyond this, saying the Saudi and Qatari governments themselves are funding ISIS — a far more serious allegation with potentially more dramatic diplomatic implications. And one that has riled up critics of Saudi Arabia here in the U.S. “Clearly, this Clinton email shows the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is continuing to covertly fund and logically support terrorist groups that kill Americans,” said Kristen Breitweiser, one of the leaders of the 9/11 family members who have been lobbying for recently enacted legislation — opposed by the Obama administration — that would allow them to sue the Saudis in federal court over their support for al-Qaeda. “Apparently, everybody in Washington knows that the Saudis are doing this, yet the White House and the State Department are against holding them accountable.” Breitweiser added about the contents of the email: “This is a clear example of the difference between how people speak to each other privately compared to what they say publicly.” Clinton broke with Obama over the legislation Breitweiser lobbied for; her campaign said she would have signed the bill allowing U.S. citizens to sue countries that sponsored terrorism into law. The Saudi government, through Qorvis Communications, one of its lobbying and public relations firms, responded to questions about the email Tuesday, saying it would not comment on “leaked documents,” but adding that the allegations of government funding are “preposterous and simply defy logic.” “Saudi Arabia is on the forefront of fighting terrorism in the region and around the world,” the Saudi statement said. “Daesh (an Arabic term for the Islamic State) is a sworn enemy of Saudi Arabia. It has called for the overthrow of the Saudi government and made the gulf kingdom its main target because it is the birthplace of Islam and home to the Two Holy Mosques.” Noting the military and other actions the Saudi government has taken to fight the Islamic State — including “an aggressive public education and ideological campaign” to discredit the group, the Saudi statement added: “Saudi Arabia has long-maintained that it will thoroughly investigate any reports of funding of terrorist organizations by Saudi citizens or institutions.” It’s unclear if Clinton actually wrote the email herself or was simply passing along a policy paper that was written by an aide or some other source. The lengthy document is in many respects unlike any of the mostly terse emails from her private email account that have been made public by the State Department. (Some former top U.S. national security experts last week warned that the Russians may seek to “doctor” leaked material, but the Clinton campaign has yet to offer evidence that any of the WikiLeaks emails were forged or tampered with.) And the rest of the positions outlined in the email — such as stepped-up air campaign and arming the Kurds — match closely with Clinton’s publicly stated positions on how to fight ISIS. Still, the email goes much further than Clinton or President Barack Obama have before in publicly pointing a finger at U.S. allies for funding ISIS. But it does appear to reflect views that have been shared privately by some in the White House. A few months after Clinton sent this email, Vice President Joe Biden was forced to apologize for similar remarks. He told a group of students at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government that “our allies” contributed to the rise of ISIS. “The Turks… the Saudis, the Emirates, etc., what were they doing? They were so determined to take down [Syrian President Bashar] Assad and essentially have a proxy Sunni-Shia war, what did they do? They poured hundreds of millions of dollars and tens, thousands of tons of weapons into anyone who would fight against Assad,” Biden said then. Asked about the content of the Clinton email, White House spokesman Edward Price said: “We’ll decline to comment on purportedly leaked emails.” Clinton sent the email to Podesta when he still worked for Obama as counselor. He became Clinton’s campaign chair in January of 2015. Adding to the potential awkwardness for her campaign, Podesta’s brother, Tony Podesta, runs one of Washington’s biggest lobbying firms, which in September 2015 signed a contract to lobby for the Saudi government. A few weeks later, Tony Podesta held a Clinton campaign fundraiser, attended by John Podesta, and has since been listed as one of the campaign’s chief “bundlers” or premier fundraisers. The Clinton campaign did not return a request for comment about whether the candidate believes it is appropriate to accept campaign donations from someone who has lobbied for a government she believes is sponsoring terrorism. Podesta refused a request for comment.

That's what I've been saying.

Owner/Driver / October 12, 2016 Travelling long distances is no problem for Kalgoorlie-based Brendon Penn Crane Hire, its mobile cranes and the company’s 2007 Kenworth T650. Brendon Penn’s versatile second-hand Kenworth T650 prime mover is one of the two crane support trucks owned by his business Brendon Penn Crane Hire, with the other a Volvo 8x4 prime mover. While they both fill a variety of roles, their main job is to accompany the crane fleet when they head out, carrying the counterweights. Based in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, Brendon is quick to point out that Brendon Penn Crane Hire isn’t a transport company, although their two trucks are a vital part of the operation. The Kenworth is a 2007 model featuring a Gen II Cummins Signature engine, an 18-speed gearbox, a six rod rear end and is rated at 130 tonne. It joined the company in a moment of luck for Brendon. While he couldn’t justify the purchase price of a new prime mover, his search for a good second-hand triple-rated prime mover was coming to nil. In fact, he was only a week away from ordering a brand-new Kenworth when he came across the T650. "It was owned by Brad Mock from New South Wales," he recalls. "I don’t know what he has done to it but it goes really well." Brendon wanted a short wheelbase because some of the sites on which they operate are very compact and the Kenworth was a perfect fit. "We wanted a short wheelbase truck and the T650 has a short one, but is still a really comfortable truck to operate." When Brendon bought the T650, it was covered in a very smart silver and maroon coat but a storm damaged it. It now shows off the Brendon Penn Crane Hire fleet colours. "Presentation is a big thing for us," Brendon says. "The first impression is the lasting one and the Kenworth is a bit of a showpiece." "I have never bought anything second-hand – it is always new equipment – but the trucks don’t make any money for us hauling counter weights, so the T650 suited our needs perfectly." The fleet’s colours are very distinctive done in pastel blue and green beige. "We wanted something different and that’s our brand." Over the past 23 years, Brendon Penn Crane Hire has shifted between mine construction and maintenance work. .

One has to be flexible in order to participate in the Australian market. International has had a relationship with Iveco for almost 25 years in Australia, since 1992 when International Iveco Trucks Australia was formed. That history weighs in here. And remembering one of my favorite vintage trucks, the Dodge D5N, recall that Chrysler Australia produced the International cabs in Adelaide, and International Harvester Australia produced chassis at Dandenong (Victoria). Both brands shared those components to achieve a viable business scenario. Australia has always been like that out of necessity. http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/31209-when-the-dodge-boys-sold-trucks-down-under/ For MY2016, Toyota is selling "one" car, actually under their Scion brand, the iA, which is a rebadged Mexican production Mazda2. The Mazda version is considerably better looking than the Scion, but it's not sold in the US market. For 2017, with the long-needed cancellation of the unsuccessful Scion brand, the Mazda2 in the US market will be badged as the Toyota Yaris, different from the global market Yaris which is based on the Toyota Vios. The upcoming Alfa Romeo Giulia is NOT a Fiat. In fact, it was an all-new purpose-designed platform. The exhilarating 4C isn't a Fiat either.

International Trucks returns to Australia Power Torque Magazine / October 12, 2016 It will be business as usual for International Trucks as the brand returns to the Australian market, reprising the distribution agreement it held previously with IVECO Australia and its dealer network. A joint announcement made by CNH Industrial and Navistar Inc. executives confirmed that Iveco, a brand of CNH Industrial, has been appointed sole distributor of International Trucks in the Australian market. The return marks a homecoming to the Dandenong location where thousands of International commercial vehicles were manufactured and or assembled from 1952-2001. Navistar Sr. VP Distribution & Export, Mark Belisle, said the company had undertaken extensive due diligence in evaluating and pursuing the best course of action for the return of International Trucks to Australia. Mr. Belisle said. “In Iveco we’ve identified the necessary credentials and industry experience to help meet our goals. The close history between Iveco and International is not lost on us either; it adds an element of emotion to the agreement”, Mr. Belisle said. In commenting on the agreement, CNH Industrial Executive Managing Director for Australia and New Zealand, Ray Osgood, said he was extremely pleased to have established a partnership with Navistar Inc. for the distribution rights. “CNH Industrial is extremely excited at the prospect of partnering with Navistar in reintroducing the iconic International Trucks brand to Australia. Our operational experience with Iveco and the obvious synergies and history between the two brands will provide notable efficiencies as the International range is introduced in the months ahead,” said Mr .Osgood. . The timing of the introduction and on-sale date has yet to be announced, however, the addition of a new bonneted range of International vehicles for the IVECO dealership group, powered by Cummins ISXe5 engines, raises the question of whether the return of the International brand will herald the demise of the Iveco Powerstar range. In respect of the CAT Truck product range, which is also produced for the Australian market by Navistar, a spokesperson for the CAT product said that there was currently no intention to cease availability of the product range which is sold through Caterpillar dealerships. .

All-new MAN TGX D38 enters 15-litre Aussie truck market Power Torque Magazine / October 12, 2016 After more than 18 months of local research, testing and development, MAN Trucks has released its all-new TGX D38 truck to the Australian market at launch events in Brisbane. The TGX flagship aims to establish the European brand as a major player in the 15-litre, heavy-duty truck market. D38 has been optimised for Australian conditions and features a tailored powertrain designed for the most demanding transport tasks, with a six-cylinder inline engine with 15.2 litre displacement. The new engine further enhances the MAN range and introduces a new horsepower class of 560 hp at 2,000 ft-lb, producing maximum torque from as low as 930 rpm, which ensures the focus is efficiency. With total cost-of-ownership savings delivered through a range of patented MAN technologies, the D38 has an automated manual 12-speed Traxon Transmission, with three new fuel saving modes and GPS-controlled cruise control from MAN EfficientCruise, which uses saved topographical map data to detect route gradients and optimise fuel consumption (route dependent). Speaking at the launch, Mr Mark Mello, General Manager, MAN Truck and Bus Australia, said: “The MAN TGX D38 strikes an excellent balance of capacity and cost efficiency, and is built specifically for customers who transport high-gross combination weights. We believe these qualities stand operators requiring B-double and heavy-duty applications in Australia in good stead.” Chairman Roger Penske reiterated that the local team at Penske Commercial Vehicles in conjunction with MAN Germany worked hard to ensure the new model was ready to take on Australia. “The MAN D38 has been engineered for local customers, and with their needs of economy at the fore. I believe that the MAN D38 package from Penske Commercial Vehicles will quickly become an attractive and viable business option, giving our customers the edge they need.” The MAN TGX D38 is now available through Penske Commercial Vehicles, and its authorised dealer network.

Roger Penske Launches the New 15 litre MAN Diesel News AU / October 12, 2016 On one of his frequent visits to Australia, automotive mogul, Roger Penske launches the new 15 litre MAN D38 prime mover. Fresh from watching the DJR Team Penske V8 Supercar racing team compete at Bathurst over the weekend, Penske attended the launch in Brisbane this week. “I try to mix my business with my golf game, and my golf game at the weekends is racing,” said Penske. “We had a great time at Bathurst, when you lead laps in a race and you are competitive, two cars in the shootout was a big day for us. That’s got to transfer across into our business. Three years ago we decided to invest in Penske Commercial Vehicles. We had some good people and a good customer base, but, obviously, the opportunities were many times greater than what we started with.” The first major launch of an all-new vehicle since the takeover sees the MAN brand, finally, enter the Australian market with a 15 litre heavy duty prime mover engine. The MAN TGX D38 engine produces 560 hp (411 kW) and around 2,700 Nm of torque (2,000 ft-lb). The 15.2 litre, six-cylinder, Single OverHead Cam common-rail injected, twin turbocharged power plant, designated D3876, has a ‘Top Down’ system, pumping coolant from the engine top to the bottom, minimising cylinder head stress while protecting the injectors and exhaust valves. Domed valves are another innovation. According to MAN, the design will prevent deformity, additional convex shaping strengthens the valve disk and increases the service life of the valve seating ring. This is said to be critical in later technology engines whose task it is to attain and maintain stringent emission standards over a prolonged period. A Turbo Exhaust Valve Brake (TEVB) gas flap has been used for the first time, delivering a braking capacity of 600 kW, which is continuously available in engine braking mode. Cable routing is encased in a foam-filled harnesses to reduce material fatiguing vibration, another first for MAN. MAN reckon the Euro 6 compliant engine consumes up to three per cent less fuel than an equivalent 540 hp Euro 5 engine, due to its third-generation, high-pressure common rail fuel system, which injects fuel into the cylinders at up to 2,500 bar, resulting in finer atomisation and lower particulate levels. The PCV organisation now has a credible cabover B-double prime mover to match the other heavies in the market, for the first time. The MAN brand has consistently under performed here in Australia, but this introduction is seen as an opportunity to rectify this situation. “I think the metrics we’ve seen and some of the experience we have had on the MAN test vehicles has been quite positive,” said Penske. “Some of the feedback I have gotten is we have to be a better company here in Australia, from a service perspective. We look around the country and we see the service network able to grow over the next 18 months. Even though the market is down, we are continuing to invest.” .

At the IAA show in Hannover, there was a warm discussion among "old hands", including both Scania and Volvo people, who fondly remember the first Mack V-8s being supplied to Scania from 1969. The Scania version of the Mack ENDT865/866, fitted with individual cylinder heads, was called the DS14. The V-8 became an instant legend and signature Scania product..........and still is today...........all over the world. .

The B-Triple . .

B-Double (aka. B-Train, Interlnk) versus a Super B-Double "RFS" means "Road Friendly Suspension", which inherently means air-ride suspension. .

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The Iveco (former International Harvester) plant in Dandenong, Australia, and another efficient B-Train example. .

10/10 for Iveco ACCO Agitators Story on page 12..............http://asp-au.secure-zone.net/v2/index.jsp?id=35/1929/8609

From left to right: Navistar AUSPAC Engineering Manager, Adrian Wright Navistar AUSPAC Regional Manager, Dicky Commandeur Navistar Inc Vice President - Global Export, Federico Palomo CNH Industrial Executive Managing Director - Australia and New Zealand, Ray Osgood Navistar Inc General Manager - Operations, John Staley Iveco Australia Managing Director, Michael Jonson .

When you called the good folks at Watt's Mack (1-888-304-6225), what did they say on availability ? Mack Part-no. 553GB3266B - Cylinder head gasket applicable to EN707, END(T)673 and END711 with 20 stud cylinder heads Mack Part-no. 3029-8213C - Cylinder head gasket applicable to EN707, END(T)673 and END711 with 18 stud cylinder heads

Heavy Duty Trucking / October 11, 2016 The Heico Companies has acquired Dutch firm Ancra Systems B.V. (http://www.ancra.nl/en/systems/) with plans to bring the company’s automatic truck loading/unloading system to North American markets. Ancra Systems is based in Boxtel, Netherlands and expands Heico's holdings of cargo management entities. Heico is a parent holding company for a portfolio of more than 36 businesses involved in manufacturing, construction and industrial services. “This acquisition will bring advanced loading system technology to the North American trucking and material handling sectors and extend the advantages of automation throughout the warehouse, to the docks and into the trailers,” said Steve Frediani, president and CEO of Heico’s Ancra unit. “The addition of Ancra Systems positions Heico as a global player in the automated cargo management, loading, control and unloading space.” Ancra’s automated system can load or unload a trailer with palletized cargo in about three minutes, according to the company. The system can also have safety benefits as forklift-based cargo movement leads to about 34,800 serious injuries each year, according to OSHA. The automated system can reduce the opportunity for human error within a facility and potentially increase safety. “Automation and the efficiencies it brings has already permeated many dimensions of manufacturing and warehouse operations in Europe and North America,” said Marc Hezemans, managing director for Ancra. “The difference is that many European operations have been enjoying the additional benefits of our automated truck loading and unloading systems for more than 20 years.” Ancra offers six different systems with custom-designed capabilities that include a Chain Conveyor System and Skate System for palletized freight, a Roller Conveyor System for air cargo, a Slat Conveyor System for mixed and palletized freight, a Plastic Belt System for mixed and palletized freight and a Belt Conveyor System for loose loaded parcels. The Skate Loader and Load Runner Plus systems require no trailer mounted interface upfits or retrofits to gain the benefits of the ATLS. Likely candidates for the company’s system applications are manufacturers or distributors of high-volume, relatively standardized products operating in closed-loop environments, JIT scenarios and certain one-way loading applications. Industries include trucking, logistics, material handling, food, beverage, cold chain and a wide variety of manufacturers, particularly Tier One and Tier Two suppliers in close proximity to customers. “We expect to have our North American sales and technical support in position by the end of the first quarter of 2017,” said Marcel Berkers, sales director for Ancra. “We’ve watched these systems positively change industries around the world, and we expect the same thing to occur here in North America as well.” .